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[The Meditation ability has reached level 80]
[All requirements for evolution are met. Do you want to continue?]
Shinka opened his eyes at the system's words.
His expression reflected pleasant surprise.
He knew that meditation probably had a more important background than simply being the ability with which he recharges mana, but he didn't expect it to evolve that way.
"Yes."
[Enlightenment Lv.1]
[The Enlightenment ability allows the user to increase their magic power statistic, as well as recharge and expand mana at twice the common speed.]
"Twice, huh." Shinka whispered as he tried to get up.
"So if I had obtained this ability earlier, meditating with Shinka #2 would have increased my mana by 4."
Shinka rubbed his eyes.
"My body didn't sleep all this time," he said, opening the system panel.
[Status.]
[Name: Shinka Kusaka.]
[Race: Human.]
[Aliases: None.]
[Health: 50/50]
[Mana: 86578/86578]
[Magic Power: Medium. (Supernatural)]
[Attack: High. (Human)]
[Defense: High. (Human)]
[Speed: High. (Human)]
[Mental Skills: Mathematician Lv.30, Rationality Lv.41, Quick Reading Lv.30, Accelerated Thinking Lv.15, Sleep Resistance Lv.60, Polyglot Lv.MAX, Mental World Lv.MAX, Hyper Concentration Lv.5]
[Physical Skills: Strength Lv.30, Running Lv. 18, Training Lv.15, In-Boxing Lv.10, Out-Boxing Lv.10, Muay Thai Lv.10, Jiujitsu Lv.10 , Shokotan Karate Lv.10, Kyokushin Karate Lv.10, Fencing Lv.20, German Fencing Lv.10, Spanish Fencing Lv.10, French Fencing Lv.10, Kendo Lv.10]
[Magic Skills: Enlightenment Lv.1, Focus Magic Lv.8, Mana Concealment Magic Lv.MAX, Invisibility Magic Lv.MAX, Magic Enhancement Lv.20, Inspection Magic Lv.12, Senses Enhancement Magic Lv.20, Magic Sphere Lv.15, Magic Sense Lv.23, Magic Handcuffs Lv.1]
"My mana increased a lot. Now I should be able to remove the handcuffs," Shinka, inside the temple, began to slowly disintegrate and regain control of his physical body.
...
'I'm drooling...' Shinka thought as he felt his entire body lying on the concrete table.
Adjusting his posture and wiping his drool from his cheek with his shoulder, he got down to business.
He stared fixedly at the handcuffs and began to expel mana from his body frantically.
WOOOSH
The cell began to tremble from the amount of energy Shinka was starting to emanate.
'The limit of the handcuff's seal is the amount of mana the magic caster possesses.' Shinka frowned.
'And it's impossible that after increasing my mana pool so much, I haven't surpassed Raymond!'
Shinka's mind began to toy with the idea that he still needed more mana, but the idea began to fade after he heard a crack.
CRACK
Mini cracks began to appear in the magical matrix on the handcuffs.
CRACK
The cracks continued to spread through the handcuffs until finally...
WOOSH
The handcuffs shattered into fragments and flew through the air before disappearing.
"Hah..." Shinka panted a little, but quickly composed himself after hearing applause coming from outside the cell.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
"Congratulations, Shinka!" There was Raymond with his expression of superiority, smiling as he watched his new student pass his first test.
"Are you finally going to set me free?"
"Of course, and besides that, I have something to show you." Raymond said as he opened the cell.
"You look worn out," he said subtly as he approached Shinka.
"Interestingly, that's how a person looks after being subjected to high stress and not being able to sleep," Shinka said reluctantly, looking at his captor.
"I suppose. Anyway, I need you in good condition for what I want to show you, so take this." Raymond took out a scroll from his pocket.
Shinka took it without asking questions and opened it quickly.
It was a magical matrix.
Shinka quickly analyzed it and understood that it was composed entirely of biology and a great control of mana in the body.
[Mana Nutrition Lv.1]
[Mana Nutrition allows you to use the mana in your body to generate carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.]
'It's basically the ability to function for an extended period of time without resting or having to eat.'
Shinka understood the ability quickly, even though he didn't have knowledge about biology within the system, he had knowledge from before obtaining it, so it hadn't been added.
Shinka rolled up the scroll and handed it to Raymond.
"What's wrong? Didn't you understand?" The man asked innocently.
"Of course, I did. I'm giving it to you because I no longer need the scroll," Shinka said, looking at Raymond as if he were a fool.
'He understood? B-But he only glanced at it for four seconds!'
Raymond's calm facade remained, and he took the scroll.
"Alright, brainiac. I advise you to use that magic with caution; prolonged use brings quite strong consequences," Raymond said as he exited the cell along with Shinka.
'The side effects will probably be resolved when I level up the ability.'
Shinka eagerly thought, but it wasn't the only thing on his mind.
Originally, Shinka hadn't had much time, but he knew he had to study diligently in all the sciences he could to increase his power.
He simply had to postpone his desire for learning to prioritize his physical strength.
But now he knew he had to hurry to improve his mind again, just as he did at the beginning of obtaining the system.
Furthermore, he now had a huge advantage because he could delegate his physical work to Shinka #2 while he focused on studying within the mental world.
Without a doubt, Shinka was grateful in his heart for having gone through this complicated situation.
The boy's thoughts were interrupted when he saw in front of him a large door with an incomplete magical matrix on it.
'You just have to add magic to the right places to open it. Basically, it's a magical lock.'
Raymond extended his hand and did what Shinka was thinking when he saw the door.
Raymond's mana resonated with the door, and the magical matrix was completed.
BRRRR
The ground trembled slightly, and the door swung open wide.
There, the young man stood in awe at the sight before him. In front of him stretched an elliptical room with nothing inside except a chandelier on the ceiling and a giant magical matrix on the floor.
As it was giant, so much so that it literally occupied the entire floor, Shinka couldn't see clearly what everything was about since it was an overly complex matrix.
"This is the training room," Raymond said as he entered, accompanied by Shinka.
"This is where my daughters and I have been training since we settled in Takido," said the man passionately as he stood in the middle of the room.
"All the churches are built by the Vatican, and they all possess similar hidden things. Among them, the training room with gravity enhancement magic."
Shinka's eye tensed at Raymond's explanation; the man finished by striking the floor with the sole of his shoe.
BOOM
The magical matrix on the floor illuminated incandescently.
"What?!" Shinka's body was forced to kneel.
"I-It's extremely difficult to move." Shinka kept his head down and, as best he could, moved his neck to see Raymond.
He stood there, unfazed, with an amused expression as he looked at Shinka.
"You have ten minutes to adapt to the increased gravity," Raymond said stoically.
Shinka wasn't frightened by the shortened time limit he had to improve and began to warm up his body with exercises.
After a couple of stretches, he started to make small jumps.
"Five minutes," Raymond said aloud.
Shinka paid no attention and continued jumping, gradually increasing his ability.
"I don't think jumping for so long will help you much, Shinka. Three minutes."
Shinka didn't hear the man and kept at it.
After a bit more practice, Shinka finally jumped 2 meters, and there he could observe it well.
'It's beautiful,' he thought as he looked at the giant matrix on the floor.
'It alters the gravity of the room by creating an artificial curvature in the space and time of the place.' Shinka understood it after seeing it several times.
[Fixed Gravitational Alteration Magic Lv.1]
POCK
The young man's feet touched the ground.
"Time's up, Shinka," Raymond said as he approached the boy.
Raymond approached Shinka with a wooden sword quite similar to the Muramasa sword Shinka had used to fight previously.
"Here, it's time to start," Raymond extended the sword to Shinka, but he gave it a complicated look.
"I don't like swords."
"What? Seriously? I thought the dream of most young people with delusions of grandeur was to use a magical sword with a flashy name," Raymond teased, and Shinka simply frowned.
"Alright, alright, you're unique and different. I get it," Raymond continued teasing and tossed the sword to a corner of the room.
"I thought you liked them; the skills you showed were worthy of being from a high-ranking member within the ranks of the exorcists."
Raymond took a moment.
"How about a spear? I think that suits you better."
Shinka shook his head.
"No? Then what do you want? A magical gun maybe?"
"I don't want any weapons. I wouldn't mind practicing with all of them in the future to gain knowledge, but I don't expect to specialize or be classified as a weapons user in the future," Shinka calmly responded.
"I see, so you want to be a pure mage, huh? Well, I respect that, although let me tell you, the supernatural path without a magical weapon is quite turbulent."
Raymond stopped his words and got into position.
"Use everything you've got, Kusaka!"
Shinka sighed at Raymond's determination.
"I know what your purpose is behind wanting to train me. Still, I'm grateful for it."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I know I won't win this time either, but I'll make it clear that it won't be like yesterday's fight."
A mysterious blue light began to surround Shinka's body.
[Magic Enhancement Lv.16] [Enlightenment Lv.1]
[Magic Power: Medium (Supernatural)] > [High (Supernatural)]
[Attack: High (Human)] > [Low (Supernatural)]
[Defense: High (Human)] > [Low (Supernatural)]
[Speed: High (Human)] > [Low (Supernatural)]
...
Inside Shinka's mental world, he stood next to Shinka #2.
With a simple movement of his neck, Shinka set his gaze on his other self.
"Feel free," he whispered, and Shinka #2 eagerly opened his eyes before starting to disappear.
With another subtle turn of his head, Shinka looked at a book on one of the mental shelves.
With a quick movement of his hand, the book flew to where he was.
"I'll take care of being able to modify gravity magic. If I can adjust it to be local and versatile, rather than fixed like the one in this room, then I'll really have something very useful in my arsenal."
...
In the physical world, Shinka, surrounded by an explosive aura due to the accumulation of the Enlightenment state and the reinforcement magic, opened his eyes.
Both were golden, signaling to Raymond that this would not be an easy fight.
"Let's begin," Raymond whispered.
